Restaurant Review: Nobu Ibiza Bay

Nobu Ibiza Bay is one of the Balearic island’s hottest new hotels. Good Things editor Zoe Perrett checks out the ‘new-style’ Japanese food at its signature restaurant

You know what you’re getting with Nobu. It’s glam, it’s glossy, it attracts a beautiful crowd. But with Nobu Ibiza Bay, you’re getting all that plus a show-stopping Mediterranean sea view. Suffice to say, it’s a very pleasant place to dine.

Opened just a few months ago, Nobu Ibiza Bay is a rather sumptuous hostelry. All pale wood and natural textiles, it’s the embodiment of Balearic Island luxe. Located on the seafront, Nobu the restaurant is a slick venue; a little darker, a little hipper, just as plush.

Our table overlooks that endless sea, which almost but not quite distracts us from a pair of cocktails which both employ that delectable Japanese citrus, yuzu. LB’s rose, raspberry, gin and yuzu number proves to be the girly serve, but he’s man enough to not feel threatened by its pink prettiness. My own Ying & Yang is a deceptively hard-hitting, long blend featuring the same gin and yuzu combo further flavoured with lemongrass.

We glance fleetingly at the a la carte but go for the omakase option because we reckon Nobu’s chefs know better than we do. And indeed, what follows is a feast fit for kings, so it does us mere mortals very nicely. Happier still, the chefs’ selection also just-so happens to include all of LB’s personal Nobu greatest hits.

One of those hits include the yellowtail sashimi with jalapeno and coriander – I know this fact well, because he hasn’t stopped banging on about it ever since I mentioned we were coming to Nobu. It’s the first dish to arrive, and, with its bright, fresh flavours, proves itself to be the ideal appetite sharpener.

Next to land is a veritable agglomeration of treats from the ocean: a fancy platter featuring nigiri sushi with yellowtail, salmon and (our favourite) truffled tuna belly; lilliputian donburi bowls topped with tobiko and salmon sashimi; and friable nuggets of tempura king crab served in its shell. Chilled Zarate albarinho is a fine accompaniment – well, when in Spain, right?

As darkness falls, we discover the curio on the tabletop is not, as we’d mooted, a small dumbbell placed on its end, but a touch-operated light which helps us ensure we don’t poke our chopsticks anywhere inappropriate. It also illuminates an unassuming-looking spinach salad which I will remember in years to come for its intensely savoury truffled dry miso, parmesan and yuzu dressing.

A healthy heap of rock shrimp tempura (another LB essential) is next in the procession. We dunk the morsels alternately into that Nobu signature, ‘creamy spicy’ – a sort of piquant mayo – and the most incredible liquid that can only be described as a puddle of umami: somewhat soy-y, somewhat parmesan-y, utterly delicious.

We keep hold of that umami juice – the waiters are far too polite to pry it out of my hands – for the course which follows. The jenga-like stack of ribeye steak slices with a tangle of crispy onions already features a yuzu-truffle dressing, but a little additional anointing tickles my tastebuds immensely.

Our waitress coerces us into trying a dessert that’s a Nobu Ibiza Bay exclusive. In reality, all involved parties know that no coercion whatsoever is required, but it’s seemly to at least put up the pretence of ascribing to moderation.

There’s nothing at all moderate about the creation we’re presented with: an avalanche of powdered ice onto which we’re instructed to pour coconut and yuzu-mint syrups from a duo of glass bottles. Once we’ve tunnelled our way in, we discover a young coconut filled with strawberry ice-cream and chunks of pineapple. It’s bonkers, brilliant, and inimitably Nobu – as, indeed, is the entire experience.